The journey called Life
by ShioriErz
Summary: She wanted to escape her escape her engagement but had gotten into something far worse and sinister instead. In a magical world where enemies disguised as friends and friends disguised as enemies, she had no choice but to rely on herself. But her friends had something else in mind. OCX? Rating will probably change to M.
1. First Stanza: Past

**Disclaimer: I don't own KHR!, KnB and any other animes that I used in the making/writing of this story.**

**Warnings: Death, gore, spelling/grammar, OOC!ness, unbeta-ed.**

**Author's note: this is my first crossover fic so...Well, I hope you will enjoy it:)**

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First Stanza: Past

Prologue

_She was called by many things._

_The Snow Empress. The Glacier Queen. The Ice Princess. The World's Number One Beauty. The Strongest Witch. Lady North of the Four Grand Witches. Queen North of Noelia. Empress North of Altea Empire._

_But the most popular one was The Black Empress due to her tendency to wear black. Regardless of what you wish to refer her by, everyone agrees that all of her infamous monikers only had one purpose. To instill fear to the heart of her enemies._

_Her greatest accomplishments that the world will never forget were when she ended two world-scaled wars. She defeated The Dark Emperor during The Darkest Year and defeated both Queen East and Queen West during The Four Grand Witches War with the help of Queen South, who was said to be her best friend._

_Her mysterious disappearance a thousand years ago during The Four Grand Witches War threw the world into absolute chaos. Some said she died trying to protect the First Imperial Princess. Some said she was killed by Queen West while others said it was Queen East that did it, as a last resort. Some speculates that she sacrificed herself to end the war by using a forbidden technique._

_Alas, dear readers, we will never know what had happened to our beloved Empress because no one is powerful enough to travel that far back to the past. A pity as not much is known about her. All that the author of this book knows is that she was the youngest empress that had ever ruled at the tender age of fifteen and that she had a daughter, the First Imperial Princess Emerald Elise Fernandez, at seventeen though no one knew when she married or the whereabouts of the Emperor._

_Nowadays, in the era that was born because of the late Empress' intervention during the last war, she was given another nickname by the people of our time. Mostly by the teenagers that are infatuated with her after seeing her portrait that are hanged at nearly every building in this world._

_The Greatest Empress That Had Ever Lived or simply, The Great Empress._

She closed the book that she was reading and the sound of a book being closed resounded throughout the room. She was reading to past some time while waiting for that person to come home but she was starting to regret that decision. What was the point to read something that you already had the knowledge of, even more than the author himself? She closed her eyes and let her thoughts wondered, not noticing the front door opening and closing.

She often wondered what had she done in her past life to experience such painfully, for a lack of a better term, exciting life. But she did not feel any remorse, far from it actually, as it was because of it that she finally, finally met her soul mate. And by God, she would do absolutely anything to keep her beloved, even if it meant she would have to kill someone. It did not matter anyway, since she was not exactly what someone would call 'innocent' or 'pure'.

A kiss upon her lips and the sensation of fingers caressing her cheeks gently shook her out of her dreamland. Her eyes fluttered open and saw the person that she had been waiting for. He towered over her as she was sitting while he was standing but she felt no oppressive intent and knew he would not harm her anyway. Her lips broke out into a gentle smile and she greeted him.

Speaking of her beloved, there he was looking as regal as always, making her suspect of him secretly being an emperor of some faraway land again. He would chuckle when she told him of this and said that if he was an emperor then she would be his beloved empress. He also said that he would not take any concubines as she was the only one he wanted, no, needed in his life.

These words never failed to make her blush and she secretly reveled in it because she knew, though his words sounded like sweet lies, they were earnest vows of love, as rare as it was.

Looking past the windows to enjoy the beautiful scenery outside, she fervently hoped that her happiness would last forever and no one would disrupt it. Not that anyone dared of course, knowing her real identity and what her lover was capable of but if they did then blood would be spilled, lots of it.


	2. Chapter 1 The Fated Day

**Disclaimer: I don't own KHR!, KnB and any other animes that I used in the making/writing of this story.**

**Warnings: Death, gore, spelling/grammar, OOC!ness, unbeta-ed.**

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Chapter 1

The Fated Day

"Oi, Crystalia! Where are you going?"

The person identified as Crystalia turned to face the girl that called out to her who happened to be Rosalia, her younger sister.

"I'm just going to explore the woods for a while. Do you want to come with me, Rosalia?"

Rosalia huffed and replied, "No thanks. I have a date with Stephanie and she hates it if I'm dirty on our date."

It was no secret that her younger sister was a lesbian and frankly speaking, she did not have any problem with it as long as there were no public displays of affection. Luckily, Rosalia seemed to understand this and any intimate acts were done in the privacy of her bedroom, something the whole family was thankful for.

"Anyway," Rosalia continued, "Mom wants to see you. She said something about discussing your future and not wanting you to turn out to be a failure like Cornelia and I."

Crystalia winced at the casual tone her sister was using as if she was talking about how the sky is blue instead of hers and Cornelia's, her older sister, failures to live up to their perfectionist mother's expectations. Rosalia noticed the wince but pretended not to.

"Rosalia, you know how Mom is, right? So, please don't take it the hard way. She just wants the best for us."

Rosalia looked at Crystalia pointedly and retorted, "I know that but seriously, I won't be surprised if she suddenly sprang up news one day telling us that you have been betrothed to some thirty year old guy to elevate the status of our family. Don't say I didn't warn you, Crystalia."

"I know that myself, thank you very much, but she's our mother. What do you expect me to do? Defy her? Run away from home? That's the coward's way out and you know it."

"I'm not telling you to do any of that. All I'm saying is, you should stop buttering Mom up-"

"I'm not buttering Mom up!"

"Fine! You should stop listening to everything Mom says and start doing something you yourself wants instead."

"Like what you and Cornelia have been doing? So, basically you want me to find a paramour and have clandestine meetings with him that would result in the birth of a bastard child or would you rather me be a lesbian like you instead? I'm afraid I would have to decline. Besides, I am already doing what I want. Haven't you seen my room?"

Rosalia was miffed by Crystalia's words but retaliated, "Geez, I was just suggesting. You don't have to be so snappy about it. And about your room, I've seen it and I must say those posters must have cost you a fortune. Anyway, I'm digressing. Mom lets you do that in exchange for your straight A's and perfect attendance. Aren't you tired of this, Crystalia?"

Crystalia smiled wistfully and said, "It's something I have to do, Rosalia. Besides, Mom is right. The only way to succeed in life is through hard work."

Rosalia snorted but said nothing. The silence dragged on for what seemed like forever until Rosalia broke it.

"Well, you better go and see Mom now before she blows a gasket, though I'd rather you not, while I'm going to smother our beloved niece with affections. Hold on, Elise, your favourite aunt is coming. I swear Stephanie just loves to keep me waiting."

She promptly disappeared while Crystalia merely shook her head in amusement and chuckled. She started to head to the study where her mother could always be found. She knocked on the door and received a "Come in." before entering the room.

Upon entering the room, she saw her mother sitting on a chair behind an office desk while behind her was the windows that were opened to let some fresh air in. On one side of the room was a bookshelf that was filled with books and folders while on the other side was a table that had refreshments for its occupants.

"Good afternoon, Mom. Did you ask for me?" Crystalia greeted. Her mother looked up from the document that she was reading and said, "Yes, I did but before that, please take a seat." Her mother, Janice, gestured for her to sit on one of the chairs in front of the desk. She nodded but looked at the chairs warily before sitting down.

Her heart was palpitating as her mother was usually laconic and straight to the point. Inviting her to sit meant that she was in trouble or her mother had a lot to say. Neither option sounded pleasing but she had no choice but to endure. Janice looked at her and decided to drop the bomb, as she always did.

"Crystalia, I'll be honest. I want you to stop watching those animes and focus on your studies. You are going to be eighteen in two months and don't you think that it's time for you to grow up. You are addicted to these animes and what would your future husband think if he found out?"

Crystalia was shocked to hear her mother's words and she was starting to dread for Janice's next words. "Robert is a nice, respectable young man that would be suitable for you, Crystalia. He's from a noble family and I'm sure that you will like him as he likes you. In fact, he was the one who asked for your hand in marriage and I accepted it. I know he is a bit older than you but love knows no bounds." Janice continued, not noticing her daughter's inner turmoil and rage.

Crystalia was positively enraged and furious after hearing her mother's words though she showed none of it on her face. She should have listened to Rosalia and continued to walk to her original destination. She cannot believe that Rosalia was right about her mother arranging her marriage like parents did in the olden days. Oh, the irony!

"Are you done, Mom?" Crystalia asked icily but of course, Janice did not notice her daughter's change of lilt.

"Yes, I am." Janice said.

Crystalia looked at Janice and decided that Rosalia was right about her rebelling once in a while. "I'm sorry to say this, Mom, but I will not stop watching anime and I will certainly not marry this Robert you speak of. You can't dictate my life as you please. We're in the 21st century for God's sake! Why are you arranging my marriage like we're living in the 19th century?"

Janice was astounded by the sight of her daughter talking back to her and questioning, no, refusing her. The daughter whom she thought was filial and would obey her. Apparently, she was wrong. But Crystalia paid it no mind and continued uninterrupted.

"Yes, I admit that I'm addicted to anime and manga but it's certainly better than addicted to drugs, cigarettes, social parties, sexual promiscuity and other immoral things, no? And if I'm correct about this Robert being the eldest son of the Layton family then the gap between our ages is not 'a bit'. He is thirty-eight for Pete's sake!"

Seeing that her mother was still speechless because of her outburst, she stood up and said, "Since we are done here, I will take my leave now. Good day, Mom." After saying that, Crystalia immediately stormed off to go to the only place where she can relax, the lake at the heart of the forest behind her house.

The other occupants of the house avoided her warpath as they did not want to be on the receiving end of her wrath especially when she was feeling sadistic. They may not be able to see the aura she was emitting but it certainly sent chills down their spines! As she passed by the living room, Stephanie was baffled by her behaviour as the usually soft-spoken and cheerful Crystalia ignored her greetings while Rosalia who was holding Elise merely smirked and continued to coo at the baby.

She did not bother to find out the reason behind her sister's rage as she could already guess what happened and her hunch about her mother arranging Crystalia's marriage was right.

When Crystalia arrived at the lake, she had calmed down a little. She walked to the edge of the lake and took off her sandals so she could sit at the grass and dip her legs in the cool water of the lake. She started to take deep breaths and counted to ten inside her mind repeatedly so she would not lash out at someone innocent. She was so preoccupied with her 'task' that she did not notice someone joining her and sat beside her.

Rosemary raised her eyebrows at her friend's behaviour but said nothing. After five minutes of nothing but the sounds of her friend taking deep breaths, she finally decided to announce her presence by poking her face. Poor Crystalia was so startled that her natural reflexes kicked in and her body did what was her natural response in this situation before her mind could catch up.

She slapped the offender or that would have happened except that Rosemary had known her friend for years and knew every single thing about her so she did what would save her right cheek, she ducked and let Crystalia's hand sailed pass her head. After Crystalia retracted her hand, Rosemary lifted her head and smiled cheekily.

Crystalia pouted and said, "Why did you do that? You're lucky my hand didn't get acquainted with your face." Rosemary shrugged and replied, "You were taking too long to notice my presence. Seriously, if I were some criminal, you would be in danger. So, who's the poor fool that angered you?"

"My dearest and beloved mother. Oh and let's not forget my beloved fiancé. You know him, Inori, he's the eldest son of Layton family." Crystalia answered, sarcasm dripping with each word. One of Rosemary's eyebrows rose and could not help but ask, "Let me guess, your mother arranged your marriage with Robert and now you're pissed as hell. Am I right, Shiori?" 'Shiori' was Rosemary's nickname for Crystalia as 'Inori' was Crystalia's for Rosemary, courtesy of being hardcore otakus.

Crystalia nodded and Rosemary was dumbfounded by this shocking revelation. They both sat in silence while Rosemary tried to take the news in and contemplated on her next words so she could quell her friend's anger. Crystalia stared ahead and her eyes took in the sight of the mountains being reflected on the surface of the lake.

"So, Robert finally made his move, huh? He has always been head over heals for you since forever."

Crystalia turned her head so fast that Rosemary was surprised she did not suffer backlash from her long hair. Crystalia looked at her friend critically and said, "Excuse me? Did I hear you right? I thought that you said something about Robert being in love with me. You're joking, right? Please tell me you're joking."

Her friend shook her head and said, "Yes, you did hear me right and no, I'm not joking." Crystalia groaned in exasperation and covered the upper part of her face then proceeded to rub her temples with her thumb and middle finger. Rosemary shot her a pitied look. She truly felt sorry for her friend's new predicament but she was not above milking the humour from the situation.

"Since when?"

Rosemary was silent for a while before she answered with "Since the day he met you." Her companion groaned again and this time she lifted her head to look at the sky and shouted "Why? Why me? What have I done to deserve this? I'm not even pretty!" as if she was blaming whatever deities up there for her fate. Rosemary blinked in surprise.

"Did you say you're not pretty? What are you-Wait, you're right! You're not pretty. You're beautiful."

Crystalia looked at her and said, "Surely you jest."

"Have you looked at a mirror lately? Can you not notice your porcelain face that's free of zits and don't get me started on that beautiful figure of yours or your silky black hair."

"Other girls have the things that you mentioned too and their boobs are bigger than mine!" Screw talking politely, Crystalia was determined to win this battle.

"What nonsense are you spouting? How many girls have double D cup walking around?"

"That may be so but the point that there are many other beautiful girls with features you just said walking around the globe. Girls that don't have any of my downsides."

"You're right. Not many girls are as obsessed with anime and manga as you are. Not many girls are as irascible as you are. Not many girls are as sadistic and sarcastic as you are when they are angry. But, you have skills that more that make up for it."

"And what, pray tell, are those skills you are talking about?"

"You can sew as beautifully as your late grandmother did. You can cook foods that taste better than any chefs. You mastered Italian, Chinese, Latin and Japanese languages. You even mastered Greek though God knows why you need to learn that. Admit it, Crystalia, you would make the perfect bride for any family." Rosemary foregoed her nickname to seal the deal.

"I'm not perfect." Crystalia retorted weakly. Rosemary nodded and said, "I'm not saying you are a perfect human, just saying that you are a perfect bride. Those are two different things." Crystalia looked at the setting sun and muttered, "I wish something would happen so I can escape this."

Then, as if the heavens were answering her prayers, a shooting star passed by but the strange thing was the shooting star seemed closer by the minute. Rosemary noticed this and started to drag Crystalia to safety. Crystalia shook her hand free to observe the absurd phenomena in front of her and Rosemary who was too focused on getting to safety did not notice. When she did notice, it was already too late. She was at the edge of the forest when the meteor crashed in the lake in front of Crystalia. All she heard was her friend's pain filled screams as a huge shockwave came out of nowhere before everything turned black.

Crystalia knew that the meteor would crashed in front of her and wanted to see it happened as it was not everyday you see a meteor lands in front of you. But what happened after the crash was not in her expectations. After the impact, a huge shockwave came from the meteor and as soon as it passed her, her body was so hot and she felt as if she was being splitted into two, right from her very soul. The pain she felt was so intense that she did not noticed that she was screaming. Her screams echoed throughout the forest but only Rosemary could hear her and her friend was starting to faint.

After what seemed like eternity, some higher beings finally pitied her and let her pass out. All she could think of as her vision turned black was that she would never, ever go near any falling meteor in the future especially if they are falling in front of her.


	3. Chapter 2 He's my what?

**Disclaimer: I'll say this for the LAST time. I DON'T OWN ANY ANIME/MANGA I USE TO MAKE THIS FIC!**

**Author's note: Sorry for making you wait, lovelies. Here's the next chap. Review;)**

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Chapter 2

He's my what?!

When Crystalia woke up, her head felt like someone had just banged it repeatedly against the wall while her body was heavy as if someone had changed her bones with leads overnight. She blinked blearily to clear her cloudy vision and took a glance at her surroundings before her eyes spotted a foreign object. She stood up and saw that the object was actually a human that was wearing clothes from the Victorian era so her first thought was that the unknown stranger was a cosplayer.

The male stirred and opened his eyes. Crystalia was impressed as his eyes were the most beautiful and unique shade of blue she had ever seen. It was not dark enough to be dark blue but it was not light enough to be called light blue either. She crossed out sapphire blue and ocean blue as those colours were not even close to the male's eye colour. While she was deep in her thoughts, she did not notice that the male was already on his feet and was inspecting her. She was snapped out of her musing when she heard someone cleared their throats.

Her head snapped towards the direction of the male and saw the male looking at her with amusement dancing in his eyes. The male smiled and said, "I didn't know that today is Cosplaying Day." Crystalia blinked and replied, "I beg your pardon?" The man continued to smile and gestured at her attire. Crystalia looked down at her clothes and received her nth shock for the day. She was wearing a Victorian dress that suspiciously complimented the male's apparel perfectly, complete with the dreaded corset though she could barely feel any restrictions. She felt a foreign object on her head and raised her hand to feel what felt like a mini hat. Suddenly, she was not amused.

The male raised his right hand for her to shake it and said, "Nice to meet you. My name is Crystalia Eastwood."

If she was not amused before, she was feeling annoyance now.

"What are you talking about? I'm Crystalia Eastwood and if you had not noticed, you are a male. A guy. Someone that is supposed to have a manly name."

The male was surprised and he imitated Crystalia's earlier actions. He saw that he was wearing a white dress shirt, cravat, a dark grey vest, a black blazer, matching black pants and let us not overlook the equally black and shiny leather shoes. The male's eyes looked like they are about to pop out of their sockets. The male started to sputter and Crystalia almost pitied him. Almost.

"B-But how can this be? I mean, I'm supposed to be Crystalia Eastwood and a girl." He stammered. Before Crystalia could say anything, another girl stumbled into the small clearing wearing a Victorian dress too. She also looked like she was a twelve year old like the confused male in front of her.

"Shiori, I heard you scream and wanted to go to your side as soon as possible but I fainted. I'm so sor-Who the hell are you guys? Where's Crystalia Eastwood?" The girl said as she looked at them.

"I'm the one who should be asking that question. And I'm Crystalia, by the way." Crystalia remarked. The mysterious girl looked at her as if she had grown two heads and replied, "Who are you trying to kid? I know Crystalia was not wearing a Victorian-styled dress and she is most definitely not a twelve year old."

"Speak for yourself. You're wearing the same thing too. Check it for yourself." The male who had been silent since the exchange finally spoke. The girl bristled but did it anyway and was shocked as well.

The girl shouted "What the hell?! I've shrunk and am wearing a fucking dress?! What kind of sicko did this to an unconscious person?" and proceeded to curse in ancient Sumerian. Crystalia was taken aback by this as she knew only one person that would curse in that particular language.

"Wait, Inori, is that you? You're the only person that will curse in that language."

The girl paused and said, "Only Crystalia will call me Inori. Are you saying that you're really her? Then, who's that over there?" She pointed at the male. Crystalia shrugged and answered, "I don't know. When I woke up, he was already here and claimed that he's me-"

"I am Crystalia." The male interrupted.

"But how can he be Crystalia when I'm Crystalia?" She continued, ignoring the fact that she was interrupted. The girl, now identified as Rosemary, looked back and forth at Crystalia and the male before saying, "Okay, this is so confusing. Why don't we all sit down and settle this calmly?" All of them sat in circle on the grass and stayed quiet.

Rosemary hit her fist on top of her palm like she always did whenever she had an idea and said, "You both said that you are Crystalia, right? But there can't be two Crystalia so one of you is either an imposter or there's something fishy going on." Upon receiving twin nods, she continued. "I'm going to ask the both of you questions that only the real Crystalia would know the answer to alternately and the one who can answer it will be the real Crystalia. Any objections?"

Seeing that there was none, she started, "So, I'll start with pretty boy over there. What did Crystalia gave me for my fifteenth birthday?" The male was annoyed with the 'pretty boy' comment but answered anyway.

"The complete collection of Fairy Tail's exclusive anniversary posters and The DVDs for Paradise Kiss."

Rosemary blinked but said that he was correct. Then she turned towards Crystalia and asked, "What was the reason I wanted to punch Adam in the face during junior high?"

"He called you a flat-chested board that will never grow boobs and you never did. Though I can see that it had changed." Crystalia said and gestured towards her friend's presumably double B cup while she and the male snickered. Rosemary fumed in anger but noticed that the two people in front of her were like a pair of twins snickering together. She ignored them and questioned the male again and this continued until she could no longer think of any questions.

"Well, this is odd. Both of you can answer my questions and I can only conclude that both of you are Crystalia, as ridiculous as that sounds." Rosemary said while scratching her head, a habit she did when she was confused. Crystalia sighed and said, "Why don't we continue this in my room? It's almost night and Mom's going to kill me if I stay out any longer."

Rosemary nodded but then asked, "What about him? We may have confirmed that he's Crystalia too but what about your family? Because as far as they are concerned, Crystalia is an almost eighteen year old girl. Though we all looked like twelve year olds now." The male nodded in understanding and looked at Crystalia who merely replied with "I'll think of something."

All of them began their trek to the house with their heads filled with questions. When they arrived, they were all shocked to see a mansion instead of a bungalow. The gates were monstrous and they could see two gatekeepers wearing Victorian-styled outfit guarding it. They approached the gatekeepers but before they could utter a word, the gatekeepers greeted them with smiles and started to open the gates. One of the gatekeepers said, "Good evening, Mister Clement, Miss Crystalia and Miss Rainfield. Please come in before you catch a cold."

They could only nod dumbly and walked stiffly to the mansion. Confusions were swimming in their eyes and all of them were expecting someone to suddenly jump out holding a board that had 'You have been pranked!' written on it. Sadly, it did not happen. Rosemary patted Clement's shoulder and chuckled weakly.

"At least now we know your name."

Clement and Crystalia said nothing and Rosemary did not pursue the matter. When they arrived at the front door, Clement knocked and a butler opened the door. The butler smiled warmly and said, "Ah! You have arrived, Mister Clement, Miss Crystalia. Good evening and welcome, Miss Rainfield."

The three of them nodded and the butler continued, "Mister Clement, Miss Crystalia, Her Grace Duchess Janice and Her Grace Grand Duchess Lily are asking for your presences. They are waiting in the drawing room. Miss Rainfield, I can escort you to Miss Crystalia's room if you'd like."

Rosemary nodded while Clement and Crystalia started to head to the drawing room. They had never seen this mansion before but they instinctively knew everything about it and its occupants including the servants.

"What the heck is going on here? Grand Duchess Lily? Is that supposed to be Grandma but didn't she die on the end of the first year of junior high?" Clement looked at Crystalia for response but she remained silent. Clement sighed and knew that she would not say anything. When they arrived, they knocked before entering and inside the room were two very beautiful women that did not looked a day past thirty. But they could recognize who as whom because one of them was smiling the smile that both of them longed to see again while the other was frowning.

"Where have the two of you been? I was worried sick. What if something happened to the both of you?"

"Now, now, Janice. I'm sure that they just lost track of time. Welcome home, dears. Did you have a nice time outside?"

"But, Mother-"

"No buts, Janice."

"Yes, Mother."

Janice acquiesced and they were relieved. They were not in the mood for a lecture. Crystalia smiled and answered her grandmother.

"Yes, Grandma. We had a lovely time today. Err…Grandma, pardon me for asking this but do you know this person beside me?" She pointed at Clement beside her. Lily and Janice looked at each other before looking at them again and Janice said, "What are you talking about, Crystalia? That's Clement Eastwood, your older twin brother and heir of the Eastwood family."

Startled, Crystalia completely forgot her manners and shouted, "He's my what?!" Even Clement was not able to hide his shock this time, he knew that they were originally one person that was splitted into two thus creating them but he did not expect that the separation came with a background story.

This time, her grandmother answered her. "He's your older twin brother, dear. Have you forgotten? And by the looks of it, it seems like Clement forgot too. Must be the side effect of the meteor. My poor grandchildren! You were already in a coma for five months too. The doctor said that it was because you were standing too close when the meteor crashed."

"Wh-What? B-But? H-How?" Their minds were in shambles and could not form any coherent sentences.

Janice huffed and said, "That is Clement Victor Augustine Eastwood and you are Crystalia Victoria Augusta Eastwood. For clarification, I'm your mother, Duchess Janice Eva Eastwood and she is your grandmother, Grand Duchess Lily Rubyna Eastwood. Your uncle, my younger brother, is Grand Duke Jason Evan Eastwood. Both of you have an older and younger sister. Their names are Cornelia Persephone Margaret Eastwood and Rosalia Elena Artemis Eastwood."

"I know their names, Mom!" Crystalia snapped. "It's not like it changed, anyway. My ridiculously long name certainly didn't." She muttered in a sarcastic undertone. Clement who heard her nodded his head and smirked.

"Then, what's the problem?" Janice retorted. Crystalia pointed at Clement and said, "What I don't understand is how can he be my older twin brother?"

"Well," Lily started, "do you really want the answer to that question? I think you're a bit too young to know about the birds and bees."

Crystalia and Clement blushed, already starting to regret asking. Crystalia shook her head and said, "No! What I meant was why is he the older twin instead of me?"

Clement's face nearly kissed the floor but he composed himself and yelled, "That's what you're focusing on?! Seriously?!" Crystalia bristled and sniped, "What?! This is a matter of life and death."

Clement wanted to bang his head against the wall repeatedly but settled for a facepalm. "I give up. Do what you want. I don't care anymore." Crystalia seemed please by her victory and looked at Lily and Janice for answers. Lily had amusement painted on her face while Janice answered her with "Because he was the one born first. Now, stop asking inane questions and go to your rooms."

Crystalia pouted but relented and let Clement dragged her to her room to discuss the new development with Rosemary. When they were in the hallways, Crystalia's attention was diverted to something and she poked Clement as a signal to stop. Clement turned his head to look at his twin but saw that she was pointing at a picture. He looked at it and saw that it was a picture of the whole family in Victorian-styled clothes as well, but his attention was on the fact that everyone's faces were different than what he remembered.

He also noticed a pair of twins smiling gently at the camera. They looked exactly the same except for their clothes and certain parts of their bodies. The male twin had short black hair while the female twin had long black hair, reaching her small waist. Their most prominent features were the pairs of eyes with the most unusual shade of blue he had ever seen. He knew that the twins were them as only they and the twins in the picture had blue eyes. He took of the picture from the wall and said, "We should show this to Inori." Crystalia nodded her consent.

"Say, Clement."

"Hmm?"

"My nickname is Shiori and Rosemary's is Inori. So, what's yours? You should have one too."

Clement glanced at her and said, "Surprise me." Crystalia stayed silent and wracked her mind to think of a fitting nickname for her twin. They arrived at their destination five minutes later and immediately entered the room, Rosemary was not one for formalities. The room was painted in a creamy shade and had a huge walk-in closet. Clement suspected the other door in the room being the bathroom and knew he was right.

He looked around and saw Rosemary sitting on the queen-sized bed instead of the chairs that surrounded a mini table. A similar setting could also be seen outside at the balcony but it had an umbrella to shield its future occupants from the weather. Bookshelves were on one side of the room and it was filled with books and mangas. Across the room, on the opposite direction of the bed was a table that had a fifty inch, flat screen television on top of it. It also housed arrays of DVDs, with two thirds of it being animes.

They glided towards the bed and sat on it to begin their discussion. Clement cleared his throat and said, "Well, I guess we should start with comparing our information and make a conclusion." Crystalia and Rosemary nodded and he continued, "Well, we found out that we're twins with me being the older twin."

"Something I'm still not satisfied with." Crystalia pouted while Clement grinned. Rosemary shook her head in amusement and said, "Well, I turned on your laptop" She pointed at the laptop on top of a study table adjacent to the bookshelves "and I'm sorry, by the way. Then, I found out that the time was reversed to when we're twelve which would probably explain why we've shrunk and a bunch of other things."

"So that's why Grandma is still alive and this time we could prevent her death, right Clement?"

Clement nodded and had a solemn expression on his face. Rosemary noticed and said, "Don't tell me that you guys are still blaming yourself for her death? I told you, it was not your fault. She was already on her deathbed at that time."

"But, we could have prevented it, Inori. If only we were more attentive to her health and took care of her properly instead of focusing on animes. She could have been sent to the hospital earlier."

"And then what, Clement? You would have blamed yourself for other things and don't even try to deny it. And what's with the picture in your hand?"

Clement handed her the picture and Rosemary studied it.

"Wow, your mother certainly looked younger in this picture and she looked better smiling too instead of her usual stern face."

"That's our grandmother." Twin voices said in unison.

"Eh?! Then this woman that's making a stern face is…"

"Our mother." They finished her sentence for her.

"But your grandmother doesn't look a day past thirty. So this is what they meant when they created the quote 'looks run in the family'. This picture is the proof."

They continued their discussions and planned their course of actions from then on. It went on for hours and before they realized it, it was time for dinner.

"So," Crystalia said "we found out that I was separated into two thus creating Clement who is my older twin, time was turned back to when we're twelve, Grandma is still alive, we're nobles, the stupid kings of the stupid countries made the equally stupid decision that nobles should wear Victorian-styled attires including their servants, can use magic which was the reason Clement was created as my former body could not handle the abundance of mana, mythical beings that used to be myths being real, we're in coma for five months except for Inori which we didn't in actuality because we only fainted for like half an hour, practically everyone's faces is beautified, Clement and I are dubbed as Firstborns because we were the first to show signs of capable of using magic, we're insanely rich and Clement's official nickname from today on is Shinra. Did I miss anything?"

The other two people in the room shook their heads and Clement said, "Well, I guess we all know what caused this." The three of them looked at each other and said simultaneously.

"That fucking meteor."


	4. Chapter 3 I like girls wear maid costume

**Author's note: This chapter and the next are dedicated to my friend who lets me use her nickname. Arigato, Inori-chan~**

**Warnings: The usual, I guess.**

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Chapter 3

I like girls that wear maid costumes

The days passed by uneventfully and soon it was time for their twelfth birthday. A grand party would be held at the mansion tonight and invitations were sent, the maids and butlers were busy cleaning and arranging the decorations, chefs were busy acquiring exquisite ingredients and cooking and their mother was busy going around giving orders. Clement and Crystalia were enjoying their new hobby, equestrianism. They rode their horses on the vast field of their mansion and made small talks.

"So, what do you feel about all of this, Shinra?"

"To be frank, I'm still overwhelmed by all of it. Everyone greeting me formally, servants bowing their heads when I passed by, girls fawning over me-heck, even some guys did it-and most of all, adjusting to being a guy as there are times I still think I'm a girl."

"I see."

"What about you, Shiori?"

"Well, it's the same for me except that I don't need to adjust being a guy."

"Lucky for you."

They rode in silence and after a while, they decided to prepare for the party and went to the stables to return the horses. They thanked the stable boys and walked to their respective rooms in silence. When Crystalia arrived at her room, she noticed that Rosemary was already in her room. She said nothing and took a bath before wearing the dress her mother told her to wear.

She wore a pink dress that was decorated with dark-coloured roses and ribbons to bring out its colour and a pink hat that was decorated with dark-coloured roses as well to compliment her outfit. For some bizarre reasons, she decided to wear a pair of black combat boots instead of the high heels for the dress.

She looked at the giant mirror at the corner of her room and saw a very, very beautiful nymphet staring back. She knew it was her but the foreign face and the lack of plain brown eyes signifying her Asian heritage unnerved her. She sighed and went out of the room with Rosemary behind her.

The party went by without a hitch and was celebrated in a typical rich people style with the lavish and grand decorations, unnecessarily expensive presents, people buttering each other up, noble's daughters flirting with noble's sons in hopes of securing their future, noble ladies gossiping, noble lords talking business matters and everyone wearing the same plastic smiles. Crystalia and Clement merely glanced at everything boredly as they knew almost everyone there was not sincere in wishing for them to have a great life and future ahead.

Rosemary grinned and as soon as the insanely huge birthday cake came out, songs were sung, wishes were made and cake were cut, she immediately whisked them away as she knew no one in the crowd would noticed or cared about the twins disappearance. The twins were glad to be away from the stuffy room and they seriously thought that they would be claustrophobic if they were to stay there for a second longer. They ended up in Crystalia's room to talk about the latest animes and other things. They stopped when Clement and Rosemary started to yawn so Clement excused himself to his room and they retired for the night.

The next morning, Crystalia and Rosemary decided to hang out at Crystalia's balcony after breakfast as it was getting stuffy in the room. They were reading books to past time but Crystalia were anxious and could not concentrate reading _Italy's 100 Popular Ghost Stories._ She glanced at Rosemary and saw that she was completely absorbed in reading _Vampires: Do's and Don'ts._ Deciding that it was the perfect time to exact her revenge for Rosemary's acts on what the three of them had dubbed 'The Fated Day', she leaned back on her chair casually and dropped the bomb.

"So, Inori, I noticed that you've been looking at Shinra an awful lot lately. Care to explain?"

Rosemary was so shocked that she dropped her book and slowly but surely, her cheeks turned into an interesting shade of red. She picked her book up and started reading it again but Crystalia knew it was just an act because really, she did not know that Rosemary had the skills to read an upside-down book.

"Wh-What are you talking about, Shiori? I-I was just…inspecting him, yeah, inspecting him to, you know, see if he's suffering from any side effects from the meteor. A-Ahaha…"

Nor did she stutter or gave a completely stupid reason when she was clearly checking someone out. _Now this is interesting,_ Crystalia mused, _you are so getting my payback for not telling me that Robert was in love with me earlier. It could have saved me from a lot of trouble._

"Is that so? Then why are you not inspecting me too? I mean, I could be suffering from some side effects as well. You could be too."

"I-I…Th-That's…I mean…Y-You…"

Crystalia was thoroughly amused by now. She did not know such a brilliant shade of red existed. She wondered if she could christen it as 'Rosemary Red'. Her friend was certainly one of the most interesting people she would ever had the pleasure of meeting. Rosemary always exceeded her expectations.

"W-What I meant was that I had finished inspecting you and am now inspecting him because you and I meet everyday but that's not the case with Shinra."

"Really? But, you see him everyday too, right? You live only two blocks away and my family practically considers you as one of us now. Rosalia even calls you 'Boss'."

"Ugh…I-I…P-Please drop it." Rosemary finally resorted to begging and Crystalia decided to pity her and stopped but not without a final jab.

"Well, sure. I'll stop. But you have to answer my next question truthfully, okay?"

Rosemary nodded and heaved a sigh of relief. Maybe her friend was not as sadistic as she thought after all. Rosemary was thankful for small mercies.

"Are you or are you not in love with Clement Victor Augustine Eastwood, nicknamed as 'Shinra' who happens to be my older twin brother?"

She took it back. Her friend was a complete sadist through and through. Rosemary's breath hitched at her throat and she immediately lunged at Crystalia to cover her mouth. She looked around in panic to make sure that Clement was not anywhere near the vicinity, completely forgetting the fact that said person was currently in the study with his uncle to prepare himself to take over the family as soon as he came of age. Crystalia pried her hand away and scowled at her.

"You covered my nose too, you buffoon. Do you want to suffocate me?"

'Sorry, I got panicked and…Hahaha…"

Rosemary laughed weakly and Crystalia shot her a dry look.

"So, what's your answer?"

Rosemary suddenly had a new found interest on the mechanisms of the umbrella in front of her. Really.

"Inori, I'm waiting."

Such a beautiful contraption. It was so simple yet so elegant and fascinating. The inventor of this particular umbrella is a wonderful man to be able to make something that could take her breath away.

"Waiting for what?"

"Your answer to my question."

The colours of the umbrella complimented the background scenery so perfectly that she felt like taking a picture to capture this moment.

"What question?"

"My earlier question."

It was just an ordinary umbrella that could be found in an ordinary store yet it was majestic and exuded an ethereal aura.

"I cannot remember."

"Rosemary Isabella Rainfield, don't you dare to avoid my earlier question by feigning ignorance."

Wincing, Rosemary finally turned to look at her positively seething best friend. She gulped and decided to answer the question for the sake of her fragile life. When Crystalia was serious, she would use your first name instead of your nickname but when she was furious, she would use your full name.

"I…um…I guess I like him more than a friend should and is starting to fall in love with him?" She answered but in the end in turned out as a question instead.

Crystalia smiled smugly and yelled, "Yes! I knew it! Hah! Take that! In your face, Shinra!"

Rosemary was unsure with what was happening but she did know one thing. If Crystalia told another soul about this, there would be homicide and one less Eastwood daughter. As if reading her mind, Crystalia turned to her and smiled.

"Don't worry, pumpkin. I'll take this secret to my grave so hurry up and confess to that idiot. Fufufu…Make sure that I'll be the godmother to your children, okay?"

"Are you really okay with this? I mean he's basically you and even I took weeks to finally accept that I'm attracted to him romantically."

"I don't see any problem. He's a guy and he's not me completely. He's just my literal other half. He's me but at the same time, he's not."

"Right…"

Rosemary was not convinced completely but dropped it. She looked at the happy Crystalia and felt the corner of her mouth twitching. It was then that she finally realized something that was so painfully obvious that she felt like banging her head against the wall for not noticing it sooner.

"Fufu…We'll organize a grand wedding for you and invite lots of guest. Oh, Inori, please let me be your wedding planner."

Rosemary narrowed her eyes at this. Crystalia was not a gloomy person but she was not the type to twirl around in happiness either. She would only call her 'Inori' and never any other nickname, certainly not 'pumpkin'. Rosemary ignored her friend and began to sort out the information in her head. Crystalia had changed, it was not noticeable but for someone who spent a lot of time with her would definitely notice.

_Come to think of it, _she thought, _Shinra is a bit off too. He's too…mature and considerate while Shiori is too…happy and expressive. The Shiori I know is considerate but not like this and she prefer to keep her emotions to herself until it became too much. Something fishy is going on and I have a bad feeling about this._

Rosemary snapped out of her thoughts and said, "Shiori, since we're talking about our crushes here, why don't you tell me about yours?"

She expected two possible outcomes for this question. Crystalia would either answered her with "Why would I tell you about my crush?" while blushing but would eventually relented and told her which would lead to the second outcome. She would answer her with "It's Giotto-sama, of course. That irresistible spiky blonde hair and enchanting sunset orange eyes. Why do you think I want to learn Italian?"

That was what she expected.

This was what she got.

Crystalia smiled brightly and said, "Hehehe…I'm in love with Seijuro-sama. His beautiful blood red hair and don't forget his mesmerizing golden and red eyes, though, I'm fond of his pair of red eyes too. He is so perfect and sometimes I wonder if there's anything he can't do. His whole being just screams perfection, you know. Why do you think I'm playing basketball now? He is so my type of guy!"

Rosemary almost fell off her chair but quickly regained her bearing. Her face was pale but the love-stricken girl did not notice it and continued to fantasize about Akashi Seijuro.

"I…see. So, you're saying your type of guy is Akashi Seijuro?"

Crystalia shook her head and smiled brightly.

"No. What I'm trying to say is that my type of guy is that he must have unusual hair and eye colour like red, gold, green, white, etc. Of course, it must be natural. Then, he must be taller than me but not too tall. The perfect kissing height. Next, he must be the dominant one in our relationship but not into BDSM. And the last one, he must be schizophrenic. Seijuro-sama just happens to fit all of the requirements perfectly though I don't know about the BDSM part."

Rosemary stared at her for a long time before she finally said, "Are those the reasons why you are willing to draw a painting of him and kiss it everyday before and after you wake up? I thought you sucked at drawing or anything that involved art for that matter. I remember you shattering my glass when you attempted to sing. But when you sang at the party last night, I thought an angel impersonated you and sang for you instead."

Crystalia nodded her head excitedly and shamelessly admitted, "I did and I'm proud of it. If he's real, I will definitely jump on him. In the privacy of our bedroom, of course. As for the painting, ever since The Fated Day-you know, the day when the meteor crashed-I've been able to do things I'd never been able to do before. The doctor said that because the presence of mana allowed us to access 100% of our brain but it didn't explain why I can sing like a prima donna, though."

"Indeed it doesn't, I can't sing to save my life. This is so unfair." Rosemary pouted and Crystalia laughed softly.

Sometime during the conversation, they had move from the balcony to the room and was sitting on the bed. Rosemary glanced around the room and her eyes drank the sight of various anime posters that decorated the walls. She remembered Crystalia's mini episode of conniption because Janice did not allow her to decorate it with 'useless things that will get you nowhere in life'. Crystalia got her way in the end due to her grandmother interfering.

Crystalia's first sentence after giving her walls a makeover was "Ahh! Finally! My brain and eyes were hurting from the lack of colours. Hello, Seijuro-sama. I hope your stay in my room will be happy." And proceeded to kiss the painting.

Rosemary considered calling a psychiatrist at that time but shrugged it off as her friend's way of saying "Stupid, plain walls! How dare you sully me with your presence?!"

"What's unfair?"

The new voice startled them and they turned their heads to see Clement leaning against the door while looking at them with a raised eyebrow. He walked towards them slowly and Rosemary licked her suddenly dry lips. Crystalia saw this and smirked but before she could comment anything, Rosemary shot her the chilliest glare she could muster.

"Ah! It's nothing, Shinra. We were just talking about the party last night. The way you rejected your 'fans' was so funny."

Clement snorted and retorted, "The pot calling the kettle black. You did the same with your suitors." The three of them were silent as they recalled last night's memories.

_The party last night was going smoothly until Clement and Crystalia were ambushed by a horde of fans and had no choice but to separate to lessen the impact. But eventually they were cornered at the opposite sides of the room with no way of getting help from the other._

_With Clement, he was attacked with questions like "What's your favourite food?", "Do you like checker-patterned or line-patterned attire?", "Why are your eyes blue?" and the most popular one, "What's your type of girl?" To which he answered with 'interesting' answers._

_"__My favourite food is grilled scorpions."_

_"__I hate both patterns. I prefer wearing plain clothes." This was actually true but they did not need to know that._

_"__Why are your eyes green?" He shot back._

_And to the last question, he answered with "I like girls that wear maid costumes."_

_With Crystalia, it was almost the same but the ambush went like this "You are very beautiful tonight, Miss Crystalia.", "Hey, hey, what would you like to drink?", "Here for you. Not that I care but it's your birthday and it's customary to give presents." And last but certainly not least, "What's your type of guy?" Her answers were:_

_"__Thank you for the compliment."_

_"__I'm not thirsty yet but thank you for your kind consideration."_

_"__Ah! Thank you very much, Lord Collins."_

_Her most interesting answer was this "My type of guy is one who is a dacnomania." With the sweetest smile on her face._

_After their 'interrogators' received their 'answers', all of them were either wary, disgusted, confused or a mixture of all three and most importantly, stunned that gave the both of them ample time to escape and was eventually rescued by Rosemary and they told Rosemary their 'adventures' in the confines of Crystalia's room later._

Crystalia and Clement were snapped out of their musings when they heard someone snickering. They saw Rosemary trying to hold it in but failed and it eventually led to a full-blown laugh.

"Oh, my God! Grilled scorpions? A guy who is a dacnomania? Hahaha! That was the funniest thing I've ever heard! You made my day last night by telling me that. Hahaha!"

By now, she was bent over and was clutching her stomach. Clement and Crystalia looked at each other and the corner of their mouth twitched. Laughter escaped their lips and soon, the whole room was filled with laughter.


	5. Chapter 4 The training begins

**Warnings: Impossible stunts, magics, spelling/grammar and a bunch of other stuff. (Does anyone even read the warnings?)**

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Chapter 4

The training begins

"So, will you please tell me why you drag me here? I'm surprised Mom actually lets you out of the study room and go to the forest." Crystalia asked when they arrived at a clearing. When Clement did not answer immediately, she crossed her arms over her chest and raised a delicate eyebrow expectantly. Clement sighed and put down the backpack that he had slung over his shoulder before grabbing Crystalia and dragged her to the forest on the grass.

"Why don't you take a look at your surroundings and make deductions from it?"

Crystalia finally paid attention to her surroundings and noticed that they were on the other side of the lake where there was a cliff and they were at the foot of that tall, slippery, dangerous and not to mention, very steep cliff. It reminded her of something and it was not long before she finally guessed it. When she turned to face Clement, her face was glowing with excitement and she beamed.

"No way! No way! Are you kidding me?! We're seriously going to do this?! Kyaahhhh! We're actually going to climb this just like Giotto did to increase his stamina?! This is the best day of my life!"

Clement winced and rubbed his ears because of Crystalia's shrill voice.

"Yes, we are. Since we have too much mana inside our bodies, we need to have the equivalent physical strength and stamina to match it. So, be prepared for hellish trainings. And to answer your earlier question, Grandma told Mom that we should be practicing our magic since we need to live up to our reputations as Firstborns and our family's name."

"Wait! What do you mean by 'our family's name'?"

Clement sighed and ran his hand through his hair before started explaining.

"Did you remember Grandma said something about us being in a comatose state for five months?"

Seeing Crystalia nod, he continued.

"As we know, that didn't really happen. We only passed out for half an hour or so but for the rest of the world, we were comatosed for five months. The shockwave probably did something to their memories since only the both of us and Inori remember what really happened. They didn't even realize that the time was reversed."

"Okay, I get what you're trying to explain. But I don't see the connections."

"I'm getting there, alright. Apparently, during the time that we're in 'comas', kings from all around the world organized a world-class event to determine the strongest family that is capable of using magic. Our family won and the kings granted us the status of upper class nobles."

Crystalia was speechless and Clement understood her feelings. He gave the same reaction when their uncle told him.

"I've been meaning to ask this but how and why, exactly, are we dubbed as Firstborns? You said that it's because we're the first to show signs of having mana in our body but how? I mean, we were supposedly 'unconcious' at that time."

"We emmited large amount of mana and was practically suffocating everyone during the first few weeks and it was only toned down when we showed signs of awakening. Coincidentally, eveyone else was affected by it and started to awaken their dormant mana as well after a few weeks."

"Does Inori know about this, Shinra?"

"I think she does. Her parents must had told her."

"I see."

Crystalia slapped both of her cheeks and the fire of determination could almost be seen in her eyes. She walked to direction of the cliff to start climbing it but before she could take another step, Clement had taken hold of the edge of her sleeves to stop her.

"Woah! Woah! Where do you think you're going?"

"To climb the cliff, duh."

Clement rolled his eyes and said, "Are you telling me that you're actually going to climb that cliff while wearing that poofy, mushroom-looking dress?"

Crystalia looked at her clothes and said, "Oh."

"Yes. Oh." Clement mimicked mockingly.

"Then how are we supposed to climb this?"

Clement grinned and pointed at the backpack he brought. "That's the reason I brought that. Inside it are our gym clothes and sneakers along with some food and water. It's a magic bag, that's why all of that can fit inside it."

They changed their clothes and eagerly started to climb the cliff. They almost fell down one time too many but they were determined to succeed. By the time the sun set, they only managed to climb a third of the cliff.

"Come on, Shiori. We should get home. We'll continue tomorrow."

This routine went on for weeks though they alternated it with studying the concept of magic, trying to materialize their power and resting. They discovered that Clement had power over shadows and darkness while Crystalia had ice and snow magics. They were so happy that day and their success only fueled their determination to conquer that cliff.

One day, on the day that they were supposed to be resting, Clement was tackled by an obviously over the moon Crystalia with Rosemary tagging behind her.

"Shinra, I did it! I finally did it!"

"Huh? Wha? What're you talking about?"

Crystalia grinned widely and spread both of her arms widely.

"Behold, the magnificent creations that was created by yours truly!"

She gestured for something behind her to show themselves and they did. When he saw them, he was conflicted whether to congratulate her or to bang his head against the wall. In the end, he chose the former. Crystalia beamed and said, "Aren't they just lovely? It took me days to create them."

"I-I see. So, what are their names?"

She pointed at a flying golden golem that had a pair of wings,a mouth, a tail with a fluffy end and something shaped like a cross on its 'face' and introduced it, "This is Tim. I call him that for this form. His ability is just like the the Timcanpy in the anime, to record stuff, able to enlarge himself but with a few additional twist, one of it is that he can create a shield powerful enough to withstand almost everything."

Clement gulped. He really, really did not want to ask but he had to.

"What do you mean 'this form'?"

"I took a leaf out of Noragami's book and decided that for each form, they should have a different name. His name in this form is Tim while his other form-the insanely awesome five-petaled flower-looking lens-like thing that Bishamon used to track down Yato-is Timcanpy. Awesome, right?"

"Err..right. What about that…umbrella over there?"

She gestured for the floating umbrella to fly near her and Clement took the chance to observe it closely. The umbrella was pink and had a pumpkin as a head, complete with mouth and all. On top of the pumpkin was a pointy end that was yellow in colour.

"This is Lero and just like Tim,he has other forms. He will be my weapon when I'm not using magic though I haven't decide what yet. Currently, he only has one other form and that's his human form that I named Lerain. Say hello to Shinra, Lero."

"Yes, Mistress. Hello, Master Shinra."

Clement was so shocked that he spurted out the water he was drinking. Luckily, no one became his victim.

"I-It talked. Holy shit! It talked!"

Rosemary seemed amused while Crystalia was not. The latter smacked her twin at the back of his head and yelled, "Of course Lero can talk, doofus. I designed him based on the original Lero in D. Gray-man."

She looked back at Lero and uttered one word.

"Lerain."

Immediately Lero started to change in front of them. As Crystalia disliked being flashy, there was no bright light or sound when Lero's form morphed. In a few seconds, instead of a pink umbrella, there was a young teen with short orange hair and black eyes standing in front of them. He wore a white dress shirt, black pants and black combat boots. On his left hip were two katanas with black sheaths held by a piece of dark grey cloth tied around his waist.

He looked at Clement and bowed. "My apologies for startling you, Master Shinra. That was not my intention."

"Ahh…It's okay. I should have expected it. I would also like to apologize to you for overreacting."

"Apology accepted, Master Shinra."

Crystalia seemed happy that her efforts were not wasted and that her twins accepted her creations. But, Clement could not help but to turn to her and said what had been eating him inside out ever since he laid his eyes on Tim and Lero.

"Shiori…"

"Yes?"

"If you are sued for pliagarism, I'm not bailing you out. You know the designs for Tim and Lero belongs to Hoshino Katsura-sensei, right?"

"I know but I don't care. She created the designs but I brought the designs to life. It's as simple as that. What kind of twin are you anyway, why are you not supporting me?"

"The kind that doesn't want to get into trouble and you don't really need my support. You usually just do whatever you want, right?"

"You're damn right I do!" She looked at Lero and Tim fondly and from then on, wherever Crystalia went, Lero and Tim could always be seen beside her. Always.

Rosemary narrowed her eyes. There it was again. Crystalia's personality was starting to change bit by bit. This time, it was her way of speaking and her lack of reservedness. _What is going on here? I'm not sure I really like these new changes. _Rosemary thought. She glanced at Clement annd noticed that he was changing too. _The old Crystalia was not that easily surprised especially when she already knew about something nor was she the type to leave other people behind for her own gain._

Crystalia was someone who could not bear to see other people in trouble. She would do anything to help that person even if it meant she would get into trouble herself. She called it being 'kind-hearted', other people called it "having a martyr complex' but Rosemary dubbed it as 'being a complete, fucking moron who doesn't know the fine line between kind and naïve'. She broke out of her thoughts when Crystalia snapped her fingers in front of her face to get her looked up and saw the twins looking at her with identical worried expressions on their faces.

"Hey, are you okay? I've been calling you for the past five minutes."

"I'm okay. Please don't worry about me."

"Okay…If you say so. But don't forget that you can rely on us if you have any problem, all right? You're our precious friend, Inori. We don't want to lose you. Ah! Of course, Lero and Tim will too."

Rosemary was touched to hear Clement's words and decided that she was probably being paranoid and that her friends was just going through a phase. _Maybe it's just a fad, _she thought. _It will pass eventually._

"I'm really okay. Just overthinking some trivial things, that's all."

Their days continued as usual and sometimes, Rosemary would join them whenever she could. When they found out that she had control over space, Crystalia sulked the whole day and practiced her magic while muttering words like "This is so unfair." and "How come the both of them got cool powers while I'm stuck with being a walking ice maker?". Clement and Rosemary sweatdropped but said nothing to not aggravate Crystalia any further. Still, they could not hide the tiny smirks on their faces.

"Ah!"

"What?! What happened, Shiori?!"

Clement and Rosemary rushed towards the source of the noise but what they saw baffled them. The sight that was in front of them was Crystalia with her hands in front of her grinning and in front of her was a huge ice block the size of their old house. It was snowing too, though the snow clouds only affected the area within 15-metre radius. Crystalia looked at them and started talking happily.

"Do you see that? I've finally manage to create a huge block of ice. Not bad for someone who only had five months of training and live in a country where you will never see snow."

She started to dance around happily before stumbling due to exhaustion and Clement and Rosemary immediately went to her aid. The snow clouds disappeared revealing blue sky. The grin on her face was infectious and soon all of them were laughing together with Crystalia being showered with praises from time to time. After some time, they continued practicing before they decided that they should get some well-deserved rest and went home.

"Inori, why don't you have a sleepover tonight? I don't think your parents would mind. We can have girls talk that Shinra can't join in."

Shinra shot them a dirty look as they snickered in unison and said, "Sure. Go ahead and laugh at the only male in the group. I don't mind."

"Oh, is little Shinra pouting? How cute!"

"I'm not pouting and stop calling me cute, dammit. Hey! How long are you going to laugh there, Inori?!"

"For a long time."

"You traitor!"

Their walk home was filled with laughter, empty death threaths, yelling and most importantly, fun. They had not felt this relaxed in a long time and Crystalia suggested that they took a day off tomorrow.

"Sure, why not? I need to catch up on my studies anyway and I heard that a lot of books arrived today. You and Inori can read them together."

Upon hearing the word 'books', Crystalia's eyes shined so brightly that he wondered which would light the road better. The street lights or his twin's eyes?

The next day went as usual. Clement studying with their uncle while Crystalia and Rosemary read books at the library together. Crystalia was reading _Mythical Creatures: Facts and Myths _when she got an idea that would not stop gnawing at her mind. Suddenly feeling dread, Rosemary looked at her friend who was fidgeting. _Well, this can't be good. But I should at least listen to her first. _She thought.

"Is there anything you want to say?"

Crystalia was surprised but said, "I can't hide anything from you, huh? Well, I was reading a chapter on cockatrices when I realized that I've never seen one before. I know, I know. They're dangerous but that's the world that we're currently living in right now. I mean, the supposedly unreal vampires exist and I've seen one talking to Mom the other day. So…"

"So, you want to test your luck and want to find a cockatrice at the forest then you would probably ask it to be your Familiar." Rosemary finished for her. Crystalia nodded and mumbled hesitantly, "Well, I'm not really going to ask it but Mom's been pressuring Shinra and I to find our Familiars. She even gave us the Contract Bracelet." She began fiddling with a black bracelet around her left wrist.

Contract Bracelets were bracelets that had a multitude of colours to appeal to the customers and had three different coloured gemstones on it. Red for land-type Familiar, blue for water-type Familiar and grey for aerial-type Familiar. It was something witches and wizards needed to forge a Contract with Rouges, unContracted mythical beings, bestowing a name to them and change their status from 'Rouge' to 'Familiar'.

Each gemstones allowed only one Contract with one Rouge of the corresponding type, meaning you could only have a maximum of three Familiars. Having two Contract Bracelets were unheard of and not many dared to try since finding one Rouge that would agree to forge a Contract with you was hard and taxing especially higher class Rouge that set conditions that needed to be fulfilled before forging Contract.

Rosemary sighed.

"You know how dangerous some Rouge can be, right? We were lucky we didn't encounter any during our training sessions in the forest and now, you want to find one that can turn you into a stone statue by just looking into its eyes."

Crystalia pouted and used her ultimate weapon. The Puppy Eyes. She jutted out her bottom lip and enlarged her eyes, putting on her best 'I'm innocent' face.

Rosemary shifted at her seat but still did not gave her consent.

Crystalia forced some tears to her eyes and quivered her lips.

Rosemary grimaced and tried to endure. _Maybe she'll give up on this stupid idea soon._

Sadly, her friend did not and instead decided to guilt trip Rosemary by rubbing her eyes and sniffed.

Rosemary threw her hands up in the air and yelled, "Fine! We'll go tomorrow! Satisfied?"

She received a "Very." and a smirk as her answer. She could only facepalm at her friend's childishness while Lero and Tim were amused by the behaviour of their creator. They continued their reading and Clement joined them three hours later. The both of them did not tell Clement about their little adventure tomorrow as Crystalia wanted it to be a surprise.

All of them thought that the peaceful days would last forever but neither of them could predict what would happened in the future. It all started on what they thought as an ordinary day but what they did not realize was that it served as a catalyst that would spell the destruction of the world and bring forth the apocalypse unto mankind.


	6. Chapter 5 The Catalyst

**Author's note: Sorry for the late updates. Review ;)**

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Chapter 5

The Catalyst

Crystalia and Rosemary strolled through the forest in a leisurely yet alert manner as they did not want to miss the signs of Rouges being near them. They were wearing gym clothes and sneakers as they usually did when they were training. The book that Crystalia read yesterday said that cockatrices could be found in desolate places and the forest they frequent were perfect for its habitat. Rosemary asked for the book that Crystalia had brought along for further information and future reading. She turned to the page on cockatrices and began reading.

_A __**cockatrice**__ is a mythical beast, essentially a two-legged dragon with a rooster's cockatrice was supposed to be born from an egg laid by a chicken and incubated by a toad, though some said that it was a snake. It is thought that a cock egg would birth a cockatrice and could be prevented by tossing the yolkless egg over the family house, landing on the other side of the house, without allowing the egg to hit the house._

_Its reputed magical abilities include turning people to stone or killing them by either looking at them—"the death-darting eye of Cockatrice"—touching them, or sometimes breathing on them. Like the head of Medusa, the cockatrice's powers of petrification were thought still active after death. The cockatrice was also said to fly using the set of wings affixed to its back._

_It was repeated in the late-medieval bestiaries that the weasel is the only animal that is immune to the glance of a cockatrice. It was also thought that a cockatrice would die instantly upon hearing a rooster crow and according to legends, having a cockatrice look itself in a mirror is one of the few sure-fire ways to kill it._

Rosemary was silent, so silent that Crystalia was feeling wary and wondering whether she should run as fast as possible. Rosemary turned to her, the book in her hand poised as if she wanted to whack Crystalia with it.

"Please tell me that this isn't the reason why you were asking around for a cock egg yesterday and that it's all just a big coincidence that is too good to be true."

It was uttered with the blankest expression on her face but her best friend knew better as her eyes were saying "You better give me the answer I want or else". Crystalia winced.

"I would be lying if I said that." And was rewarded with a kiss from the book that resounded throughout the forest. Crystalia pouted. Lero and Tim did not register it as a harming gesture as they had seen this happen many times before so they did not do anything.

"Did you _really_ have to hit me?"

Rosemary snorted and replied, "Nope, I didn't have to but I _want _to."

Silence reigned and both of them continued their search. And as if to prove Crystalia's nickname as the Goddess of Luck, the leaves on the bush to their right rustled and out came a creature so bizarre that it just had to be the Rouge that they were looking for.

It looked just like the book described, a two-legged dragon with a rooster's head. The scales were beautiful emerald green, eyes the shade of bloody red and its cockscomb a cheery red. However, despite its menacing appearance, both of them were not scared at all. Not even a little bit. Because how could you be scared of something the size of a regular snake? The obviously quivering creature looked like it was about to be eaten by _the both of them_ instead of the other way around was not helping either.

_Cute,_ was their immediate thoughts.

Rosemary cleared her throat and composed herself. She glanced at her dazed best friend and snapped her out of it by snapping her fingers in front of her face. Crystalia blinked and she reddened, embarrassed to be caught off guard.

"So…I think that we manage to find the cockatrice that you're looking for. Albeit a bit sudden and…small."

If it was quivering before, it was positively shaking now. Both of them were amused and intrigued, they did not know that Rouges believed in gods and prayed to them.

"If…If you want to eat me, then do so quickly! I'm not afraid of you humans! I'm on a life and death mission and I'm sure my friends will understand that I died a noble death!"

They did not know what to focus on. There were so many options to choose from. The fact that the cockatrice could talk, the fact that they were not dead yet even though they had gaze into the creature's eyes, the fact that it had friends, the fact that it had a mission, the fact that it thought they wanted to eat it, the fact that based on the sound of its voice, it was a female cockatrice or the fact that even though it looked young by Rouge's standards, it wanted to die a noble death. They decided on the first option.

"Wait, you can talk?!"

"Of course I can. How do you suppose I communicate with other Rouges and my friends? Why are you surprised by a talking cockatrice but not a flying umbrella and…whatever that golden flying thing is?"

Feeling stupid by the simple and obvious remark, they nodded their heads.

"The golden flying thing is a man-made golem and his name is Tim."

There was a suffocating silence that lasted for a few minutes as neither side knew how to proceed.

"Hold on a second! Why are we not dead yet? I thought those who look into your eyes will be petrified and die." Rosemary questioned.

"Well, there are several possible explanations for that. A full-fledged adult cockatrice can control their powers but since I'm still a youngling, that's out of the question. Next is that your magical powers are stronger than mine which I think might explain this situation perfectly."

Both of the girls are shocked. Well, that certainly was not within their expectations.

"So, you mean to say that we can avoid being petrified, charmed or whatever ability that you Rouges throw at us as long as we overpower you?!" It was a rhetorical question but it was still answered anyway.

"Yes. How else would you defeat us and make us your Familiars?" Amusement was laced in the reply.

"In other words, it's a survival-of-the-fittest world we're living in. Where the weak are oppressed by the strong." Crystalia's eyes glazed with unshed tears and the cockatrice mellowed, seeing that the humans in front of it meant it no harm.

"True but if we're lucky, we might find a kind-hearted Master or Mistress. Just like you are, kind human. Anyway, I should not be dilly-dallying, I have something important that I must do."

"Oh, yeah! You mentioned something about a life and death situation earlier and about you friends. What happened?" Rosemary interjected.

"My friend is sick and as she's a youngling like me, she doesn't have the necessary strength needed to fight the illness. Our only hope to cure her is by finding a very rare flower that only grows on top of that mountain over there." The cockatrice said while looking at the monstrous mountain several kilometres in front of them.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go and save your friend!" Crystalia shouted and pumped her fist in the air. The cockatrice was baffled while Rosemary shook her head in mild exasperation, already used to her friend's spontaneous antics.

"You heard the boss. Let's go."

They began to walk, followed by Lero and Tim but were stopped by the cockatrice's shout.

"Wait! Why are you helping me? We're strangers."

"Oh, you're right. My name is Crystalia and that girl is Rosemary. Though, we refer each other as 'Shiori' and 'Inori' respectively. And that flying pink umbrella over there is Lero. Now we're no longer strangers." Rosemary snickered at her friend's oblivious answer.

"That's not what I meant, human! What I meant was why are you helping me? We just met today."

Here Crystalia looked at the shocked, befuddled cockatrice and happily said, "Isn't it normal to help others when they're in trouble?"

The cockatrice was speechless while Rosemary, who decided they should move on lest its friend die, patted its head lightly and murmured, "You might as well give up. Once she's interested or determined to do something, you can't stop her. Everyone has little to no say in it."

"Why are you not stopping her? It could be dangerous."

"Believe me. I've tried stopping her before but it's like trying to stop the sun from rising or to change the colour of the sky to purple. It's simply impossible. She's like a stray cat, doing things as she pleased."

The matter was then dropped and the all of them began to head for the top of the mountain. The journey was taxing, to say the least. They had to fight other Rouges, tripped over a few roots, crossed rivers that did not had any bridge and many other hurdles with food being one of them. Luckily, the cockatrice knew which fruit they could and could not eat so they did not die of hunger. After few hours of torturous walk or gliding for a certain cockatrice, they finally managed to climb to the top of the mountain which was covered with a small field.

"Woah! Look at that view! So beautiful!"

"May I remind you that we're here for the flower, Shiori?"

"Oh, right. How does it look like, Cockatrice-chan?"

"It's a blue, six-petaled flower that glows slightly. Its name is Talnia. There should be a bunch of them growing here but we only need three."

"Okay, got it. Lero, Tim and I will search over there while you and Inori search the other way."

"Yes!" was the collective shouts that she received.

Crystalia's group went to the south side of the field while the cockatrice and Rosemary went north. Knowing that the cockatrice wanted to talk to her seeing it contemplating look, she waited for it to make the first move.

"Miss Crystalia…Is she always like that, Miss Rosemary?"

Smiling slightly, she replied.

"Yes, she is. She's so stubborn that I sometimes wonder which is even more stubborn. Her or a mule? But that's one of her qualities that I like. She never gives up, never stopping. When faced with a problem, she'll find an answer to it without anyone telling her to."

"I see."

It was complete silence for quite some time until they heard shouts of "I've found it!" from Crystalia's direction. They quickly went to her sight and saw her pointing at a batch of blue, six-petaled flowers that was swaying slightly to the breeze.

"Good job, Shiori. Now, let's go pick some."

But before they could move a step, a huge gust of wind stopped their tracks and caused all of them to close their eyes to avoid dust from entering their eyes. When they reopened them, they were greeted with the sight of a female monster in the form of a bird with a human face, commonly known as a harpy. It screeched and the sound almost made their ears bleed.

"What are you doing in my domain, human?! Are you trying to steal my precious flowers?! My precious Talnias?!"

"I don't know what you're so angry about, lady. We just want three of them then we'll be off to our merry way. You have a lot of them and it's not like you need them right now so it's a win-win situation. Besides, I don't think those flowers are really yours. They just happened to grow here and you just happened to pass by here, saw them and decided to make this your domain to monopolize those flowers. Am I right?" Rosemary tried to negotiate but it was futile.

"That may be so but it doesn't change the fact that I'm here first so these flowers belong to me! Now scram!"

"I told you that we will go but just give us three of those flowers first. The friend of this cockatrice beside me is dying and needs them to cure his/her illness."

"Never! Let that friend of hers die!"

Something inside Shiori snapped and suddenly all of them felt an eerie chill. Rosemary quickly looked at her friend and gulped. Crystalia's head was tilted to the front so her bangs overshadowed her eyes and she could not see her friends expression but she knew, just knew, that it was not a happy expression.

Tim and Lero wisely stayed out of their Mistress' way while the cockatrice was both intrigued and scared at the same time. The harpy, still not noticing the dangerous position she was in, screeched at them.

"What are you all waiting for? An invitation? Go and stay away from this place!"

Crystalia lifted her head and her once blue irises were now red, a sign that she was definitely, irrefutably, undeniably and absolutely furious. Rosemary discreetly signaled for Lero, Tim and Cockatrice to follow her and they did. They went a few metres behind Crystalia so that they would not be dragged into the chaos that would soon ensue.

"Look at what would happen soon, Tim, Lero and Cockatrice. The reason why everyone fears Shiori's wrath."

Crystalia looked at the harpy with disdain clear on her face and said, "How dare you disregard a precious life in front of me so easily, you filth?"

"What did you call me?!"

"My, not only are you a filth, you're deaf too. I expected more from the 'Dogs of Zeus', such a shame."

"You insolent human! How dare you call me, the great me, a "filth"?! Know your place!"

"Are you not the one who is insolent here? We told you that we only wanted three stalks of Talnias and we asked for it nicely yet you refused us and even hope for Cockatrice's dear friend to die. But really, what should I expect from you? You are a vicious, cruel and violent harpy who is an agent of punishment who abducted people and tortured them on their way to Tartarus and lives on the islands of the Strophades."

"How do you know that? Tell me!"

"I refuse. So, tell me, which of the Harpy Sisters are you? Aello, Ocypete or Celaeno? Or are you Podarge?"

"That's none of your business, human!" And attacked Crystalia.

She dodged easily, courtesy of her mother who arranged self-defense class for her so she would be perfect at everything.

"Stay still, human!"

"That's the same as telling me to be a naïve idiot."

"Arrgghh!"

After a few minutes of extremely one-sided battle, she finally decided to end it. Her left hand on her side went rigid and was wide open, the only indication that she was using her power, and from under the harpy, a huge spike made of ice appeared to impale the harpy. It quickly flew to safety and was donning a shocked expression on its face.

She did not give it any chance to rest as continuous shots of ice spikes emerged from the ground. Some short, some tall while some were twisted and some straight. Depending on the position and height the harpy was in. The harpy, too busy dodging, did not notice that Crystalia had lifted her right hand and dozens of ice spikes began to form in the air. Rosemary was shocked to see the new spikes.

"No way! She was forming ice spikes both at the ground _and_ the air! I know she's strong but not this strong! Most witches and wizards don't have the necessary level of concentration!"

Crystalia shot the newly formed ice spikes at the harpy who screeched in pain, embedding it on a tree with the spikes in various points of its body. The wounds oozed blood yet Crystalia just looked at it coldly.

"Go back to your real domain, harpy, and stay away from this land and its people. You had caused enough trouble and I do not wish to deal with you any longer."

She willed the spikes to vanish and with a wave of her hand, all traces that she used her power were gone without a trace except for the holes where the ice spikes were used to be. The harpy, without anything to support it, fell to the ground with a thump. She glared at Crystalia.

"I will remember this humiliation, human! You better be prepared because I will have my revenge!" And flew away.

"Anytime." Her red eyes turned to blue since the source of her anger was gone.

The rest of the party decided not to comment on anything and Rosemary picked up three Talnias. They began to climb down the mountain to give the flowers to Cockatrice's friends to make medicines out of it. When they arrived at its sick friend's dwelling, they saw a small wyvern lying on a patch of hay, surrounded by equally small leviathan, bahamut, jormungandr and behemoth.

_Cute. _Again, those were the girls' thoughts.

When the creatures saw strangers in their domain, they started acting defensive but calmed down when they saw the cockatrice. Cockatrice told them of their adventure and mishap with the harpy and the rest of the creatures looked at Crystalia as if she was their goddess. Heck, even the sick wyvern did. Crystalia, noticing that it was time for their training, excused themselves and promised that they would come back soon and left.

When they arrived at their usual training spot, Clement was not there so they decided to begin without him. Minutes later, Clement arrived and they climb the cliff again. But, as Fate would will it, Crystalia slipped and was about to fall to her death when both she and Clement reacted.

Both of them waved their hands once and two things appeared. A queen-sized mattress and a slide made of pure rubies. Crystalia fell on top of the mattress, the mattress on top of the slide and she slid down to safety. Rosemary began to fuss over her while Crystalia was excited over the prospect of awakening a new power, completely forgetting that she was at Death's door a few seconds ago.

Rosemary looked at the silent Clement and felt a sharp pain in her heart. The boy she loved was looking at Crystalia with an unreadable look and an unrecognizable glint in his eyes.


	7. Chapter 6 My naming sense is fine

**Author's note: Sorry for making you wait. Review.**

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Chapter 6

My naming sense is fine!

Ever since the incident a few days ago, Clement changed. He became more silent and only talked when it was necessary. He also would stare off into space and more often then not, he would gaze at Crystalia with a glint in his eyes that no one could decipher. No one noticed these changes except for Rosemary but when she told Crystalia of this, she was replied with "Maybe he's going through puberty."

Rosemary wanted so badly to refute that there was no way puberty was the cause but she simply nodded her head and dropped the matter. _Maybe it will pass soon. My jealousy is getting the better of me. Get a grip, Rosemary Isabella Rainfield. They're practically twins and there's no way Shinra will fall in love with Shiori. That would be incest._ But a small part of her remained worried and suspicious.

"Hey! Hey! Inori, we're going to practice. Are you coming? Shinra is waiting for us. Today, we'll just here. There's a place where we can practice without harming anyone."

"Sure. Lead the way."

Crystalia excitedly dragged Rosemary and soon they saw it, a meadow filled with colourful flowers and Clement waiting for them with a blank expression on his face. Tim and Lero flying behind them as usual. Rosemary felt a pang of jealousy. _He's looking at her again. Why can't you ever look my way, Shinra? I really, really love you._

"So…I guess we should practice with our new powers, right Shinra?"

"I believe that would be for the best. I think we should meditate to find the new power within us. Why don't you join us too, Inori? Who knows maybe you'll awaken your second power as well."

"Ah…Sure…"

The three of them sat cross-legged in a circle, closed their eyes and began to meditate. Tim was flying around excitedly while Lero stayed at his spot near his Mistress to protect her from harm. It was complete silence except for the sound of synchronized breathing from the three of them.

A light began to glow in front of Clement and his eyes fluttered, revealing unique blue orbs. He opened his palm and something began to materialize. Sensing the disturbance, Crystalia and Rosemary opened their eyes only to gasp in shock. They saw a piece of paper materialize itself completely on Clement's palm. He heard them gasp and the only tell-tale that he was amused was the twinkle in his eyes.

Recognizing the challenge in Clement's eyes, both of the girls' eyes narrowed. They closed their eyes again and began to search for their inner second power with a renewed vigour. Clement's eyes shined with laughter but he remained silent. He began to materialize other objects to familiarize himself with the new power. After a few minutes, the silence was shattered with a shout of "I got it!"

Crystalia stood up and the rest opted to stay a few metres from her lest her new power was dangerous. She outstretched her right hand in front of her and slowly but surely, a small block of emerald began to form on her palm. When it finished forming, it was no bigger than the size of a ping pong ball but she still grinned like it was the greatest thing on earth.

"Did you see that?! The majestic way it formed itself?! I did it! Yeah, I finally did it! I managed to use my second power!"

Due to her being overly happy, she hugged both Clement and Rosemary and proceeded to frolic happily. Rosemary wanted to be happy for her friend, she honestly did, but how could she when she saw Clement looking at the obviously excited Crystalia with a tender expression and a loving smile on his face? She turned away and said, "Wow! The both of you are truly geniuses. Being able to bring out your powers in a few minutes, not many could do that."

"Owh…Don't worry, Inori. I'm sure you can do it too, right Shinra?"

"Indeed. You just have to keep practicing."

And practice they all did. They did not want to be outdone by the others and by sunset, they found out that Rosemary's second power was to manipulate time. Again, Crystalia grumbled about the unfairness of it all.

"How come Inori's second power is Time Manipulation and Shinra's is Creation while I'm stuck with being able to create minerals?! What the heck can I do with this power, smother someone with pearls?! Distract someone with gold?!"

Clement and Rosemary sweatdropped. They honestly felt sorry for her and Clement tried to pacify her.

"Well, why don't you think of it this way, Shiori? At least you don't have to buy any jewelry anymore and you can design your own jewelries."

His intentions were good but it only made things worse.

"Do I look like a girl that enjoys comparing her jewelries with other girls, Shinra? Heck, the only thing that can be classified as jewelry that I have is this Contract Bracelet!"

All of them winced and said nothing in order not to aggravate the angry girl anymore. Rosemary sighed and said, "Well, I better get going. Father will be worried." And promptly left to avoid the still seething Crystalia. Clement looked at Lero and Tim for help but received blank looks instead. _Right…I have to deal with this on my own._

"Why don't we get inside, Shiori? It will be cold soon and we don't want to get sick."

Crystalia nodded stiffly and Clement nearly sighed in relief. _At least she calmed down a little…_ Crystalia left him and stormed off to the mansion while her mouth was muttering every single curse word known to mankind and created some new ones as well. All in every possible languages.

_Or not._

During dinner, they were joined with someone they did not recognize. He was wearing a green military uniform and looked like he was in his forties. Clement, Crystalia, Rosalia and Cornelia looked at each other, not knowing whether to greet the man or not. Fortunately, Lily sensed their discomfort and introduced the man after dinner when all of them were lounging in the lounge room.

"Children, this man here is Lord Seth Johnson. He is the Minister of the newly formed Magic faction. He came here today to see the both of you, Clement, Crystalia."

"Us?" Crystalia echoed. The man nodded.

"Yes, the both of you. His Majesty the King told me to greet the Firstborns and to confirm this new rumour of the both of you being able to use a new power. Tell me, is this true? And are those the famous Tim and Lero?"

"Yes, it is but how did you know, Lord Johnson? We just discovered it a few days ago and we were sure we didn't tell anyone about it. Ah…the pink umbrella is Lero and the golden golem is Tim."

"Ah, I see…But you did practice with it today, did you not? Someone saw it and when it concerns the both of you, news travels fast. Now, young Crystalia, young Clement, would you mind showing me your powers?"

Crystalia and Clement nodded and did as they were told. Crystalia formed a diamond the size of a baseball while Clement made a top hat. The rest of the group's eyes widened and Seth smiled widely.

"My, my…Such extraordinaire…Would you please show me your first power? I have no doubt on the both of you but His Majesty wants me to confirm with my eyes that you can indeed use two kinds of magic powers."

Again, they nodded and used their power. Clement used his powers to make his shadow rise and move while Crystalia freezed her drink. The Minister of Magic looked positively happy and their mother looked proud as if she was the one who managed to impress the man.

"Marvelous. Truly amazing. I have no doubt the future of the Eastwood family will be bright with this remarkable young man leading it."

Clement blushed slightly at the praise and his twin grinned in happiness, happy that Clement was acknowledged. However, the man's face turned serious when he said his next sentence.

"Now, it has been reported all over the world that witches and wizards are starting to awaken their second power. Not as fast or strong as you guys did, of course but still notable. Some of them awakened a completely new power like the both of you while some awakened a stronger version of their original power. The King wants me to inform you guys to help us classify and name these powers, in honour of being the first to awaken magic power _and_ unlocking a second one."

"Wait! You mean, we get to name things?!"

"Yes, young Crystalia."

Crystalia's eyes lit up and she grinned widely, almost ominously. Clement suddenly felt dread. _Oh dear…She already got some ideas, I just know it. Her naming sense is so mysterious. Some of it is okay, some are good while some I just want to erase it from history._

"Well, I already have some ideas, would you like to hear them now, Lord Johnson?"

"Excellent. Yes, please."

The rest of the family members except Clement, feeling like they were intruding on something important, excused themselves and soon, it was just the three of them, Tim and Lero.

"Well," Crystalia began. "I think that for wizards and witches like me that control elements should be called Elemental Lord or Lady, depending on the gender while those who are like Shin-, I mean, Clement and Rosemary who uses forces of nature should be called Force User."

_Wait a minute…I seem to recall hearing those terms from a game. Oh dear, she's plagiarizing again, isn't she?_

"Interesting. Go on." The Minister said.

"As for the matter with having a second power, I think we should call those who wield two completely different powers like Clement, Rosemary and I with Dual-type while those whose power evolved and became a stronger version should be called Progression-type."

"Rosemary? Do you happen to talk about the eldest daughter of Rainfield family? You mean she's awakened a new power as well?"

"Yes, I am. She practiced with us today too."

"I see. Well, I accept all of your suggestion and will submit them to the King for approval, though I doubt he would reject it. He has high hopes in you guys. What about you, young Clement? Do you have anything to add? You've been silent since the beginning."

Clement shook his head and the man continued, "I should take my leave now. I have imposed on this family long enough. Good night, young Crystalia, young Clement."

They walked the Minister to the front door and sent him off with a wave. They watched as his car drove away and the both of them looked at each other after closing the door. Clement broke the silence by saying, "I'm surprised that your naming sense works fine this time." With a smirk on his face.

Crystalia bristled and retorted, "What's that supposed to mean?! My naming sense is fine!"

"Anything that floats your boat, dear sister. Anything that floats your boat." He walked away to his room, leaving Crystalia alone with Lero and Tim. She pouted.

"Stupid Shinra. My naming sense is fine, right Tim, Lero?"

Tim flew near her and rubbed itself against her endearingly while Lero replied with an "Of course, Mistress."

The next day, Clement was learning how to manage the family business from their uncle and mother so Crystalia was left alone to roam the halls with only Tim and Lero as company while waiting for Rosemary to come. Suddenly, she remembered the promise she made with Cockatrice and grinned.

_I know what we're gonna do today._

When Rosemary arrived, she did not even have the chance to greet Crystalia before being dragged by her friend. She faintly realized that they were going to the forest and the trail led them to the sick wyvern's dwelling. _I wonder how it is now._ She thought.

They soon arrived at the place and saw that the wyvern was cured and was playing with the rest. When the wyvern saw them, its eyes lit up and stopped playing which caused a chain reaction. The jormungandr stumbled to the behemoth that crashed to the leviathan and bahamut that hold on to the wyvern and cockatrice for support. But the wyvern and cockatrice could not support the added weight and all of them ended up falling to the ground in a heap.

The girls helped them and the mythical creatures nodded their thanks. Cockatrice beamed at them and said, "You guys came back!"

Crystalia grinned. "Of course we did. We promised you, didn't we?"

The wyvern went in front of them and bowed its head, "Miss Crystalia, Miss Rosemary, please allow me to express my heartfelt thanks for helping me a few days ago."

"Ah…Us too." The others echoed. Soon, a line of mythical creatures with varying colours, shapes and sizes lined up in front of them, bowing their heads.

"It's all Shiori, you know. You guys should thank her instead. I barely did anything."

"Inori, you!"

And so Rosemary Isabella Rainfield single-handedly averted all the hero-worshipping to Crystalia Victoria Augusta Eastwood. She smirked in victory while Crystalia looked conflicted.

"Is there anything we can do for you, Miss Crystalia?"

"Well, now that you mentioned it…Will you guys become my Familiars, please? My mother's been pressuring me to find some and I think you guys will do just fine."

The creatures looked at each other before turning back to the hopeful girl and said simultaneously, "We're sorry, Miss Crystalia but we cannot be your Familiars."

She deflated but respected their decisions. "May I ask why?"

"We are not qualified to be your Familiars, Miss Crystalia." Came the reply from the wyvern. Crystalia was shocked, even Rosemary was puzzled. Lero said nothing while Tim flew around in confusion.

"What do you mean 'not qualified'?"

Behemoth remarked, "You are very strong, Miss Crystalia. We may not have seen other wizards and witches besides you and Miss Rosemary but our instincts told us that one day, you will rise to the top of the magic world. We have no doubt of that happening and we felt that having us as your Familiar will only drag you down. We are weak, Miss Crystalia."

"But!"

This time Cockatrice interfered. "Please respect our decision, Miss Crystalia. We owe you our lives by driving the harpy away and we are more than happy to grovel at your feet should you want us to but we cannot become your Familiar."

Seeing the downcast face of Crystalia, all of the creatures looked at each other and came up with a win-win situation.

"If you insist on having us by your side, I suppose we have a way."

"What is it?! I'm willing to do anything!" Crystalia was excited. At least, she had a way to stay friends with the creatures. She honestly liked them.

"You have to subjugate us or make us like you enough that we are willing to be your Slaves."

"NO!"

"You promised you will do anything, Miss Crystalia. Please fulfill your promise."

"But I want you guys to be my friends or Familiars, not my Slaves!"

"Familiars and Slaves don't differ that much, Miss Crystalia. The only difference they had was that Familiars was Contracted and bestowed a name with while Slaves don't which made their position lower than Familiars but higher than Rouge. We are honoured that you thought of us as friends but please, that's the best that we can offer you."

"Why are you guys insisting to not be my friend and instead want to be my Slaves?"

"You saved our lives and our animal instinct demanded that we follow you for the rest of your life by serving you. To be honest, we have no problem with it."

Crystalia was about to argue but Rosemary stopped her. "Can't you just do what they want? They get to serve you and you get to keep them. It's a win-win situation. You don't have to treat them like a Slave like most owners did. You can just treat them like your friends. No one should know and even if they did, why should it be their business?"

She sighed and finally relented. She began to make six black collars with her Mineral Manipulation power. On those collars, a symbol of a white snowflake with blue tips appeared signifying her ownership on the bearer of the collars. She gave the collars to the creatures and smiled sadly when they put it on with Rosemary's help and bowed like the lowest slave would to their master.

"Rise, Jormungandr, Behemoth, Leviathan, Bahamut, Wyvern and Cockatrice."

"Yes, Mistress."

They stayed and chatted for a while and soon, it was time to go home. When Crystalia entered her house, she saw that all the servants are busy.

"What's going on?"

"The servants are busy. Christmas will be here in four days and Mom wants to make sure that the party will be perfect." Cornelia replied.

"Ah… I see. Well, I'm going to my room now. Call me when it's dinner."

"Sure."

Crystalia walked to her room while Cornelia continued to supervise the servants. Crystalia entered her room and collapsed on her bed in both mental and physical exhaustion. _At least, it's almost Christmas. My favourite holiday. I wonder what I will get this year. _She closed her eyes and dozed off.

What she would soon realize was that Christmas that year will be a Black Christmas. All because of a certain action from a certain person.


End file.
